


She Never Died

by Simon_says_fly



Category: He Never Died (2015), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark, F/F, F/M, Gen, Green K, He Never Died (Film), Maggie not represented in the best of light, Red-K, Timeline changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-10-01 22:17:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20423078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simon_says_fly/pseuds/Simon_says_fly
Summary: Story Teaser:  It's been almost twenty years since everything went bad.  Superheroes are a thing of the past.  Kara, once remembered as Supergirl - now thought to be dead, is all alone; simply surviving day-to-day... when a knock at the door brings her face-to-face with family that she never knew existed.  Is it enough for Kara to fight back against her demons that seem to dog her steps every day?Based around the movie, He Never Died, starring Henry Rollins.May become part of a series.  We'll see how much you enjoy this first attempt.





	She Never Died

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this should be a little different.
> 
> My wife and I got into a discussion about how superhero movies were moving across genres. New Mutants was supposed to be a horror movie. Avengers is action slash adventure. Ant-Man is full of comedy. And so on… This led us to start talking about how (with the right storyline) superheroes could be put into another movies and genres if done right. 
> 
> My better half brought up the movie “Cloverfield” by J.J Abrams. There had apparently been a rumor that had circulated for a while that the monster was going to be The Hulk. Could you imagine how totally awesome that would have been? A found-footage monster thriller and it’s our beloved green behemoth that’s revealed at the end? What a twist!!!
> 
> So, I got challenged by her to take any movie and change it so that a superhero could fit in.
> 
> Fun, fun. 
> 
> I considered doing a young Batgirl in a Nancy Drew type movie. Almost any of the Bat family could be incorporated into a good crime mystery drama. I almost wanted a scene with Dick Greyson screaming at Batman… “What’s in the box? What’s in the box?” 
> 
> But I decided to look harder. I wanted Supergirl (of course!!!). Mary Marvel, maybe, if not my blonde Kryptonian. Using a Shazam kid could help keep the superpowers to a minimum. But this was hard. How do you incorporate so many super powers in a movie that doesn’t have them? I considered simply removing them… but that almost felt like cheating.
> 
> I eventually tried doing the Avengers: Assemble movie, but with the DC characters instead. You’d be surprised at how well a Justice League movie using the Avengers storyline worked. I’d have watched it.
> 
> 1\. Captain America becomes Wonder Woman. Both vanished after fighting in a World War.  
2\. Hawkeye and Green Arrow. No-brainer there.  
3\. Black Widow and Black Canary. The dialogue with Oliver became so much more fun. Sexual tension galore.  
4\. Thor became Aquaman.  
5\. The Hulk was a reluctant Superman after the destruction of Metropolis in “Man of Steel” movie.  
6\. Iron Man and Batman. This was a tough one… almost needed the Batman Beyond outfit.  
7\. Pepper Potts became Vicki Vale, though really any of Bruce’s love interests could work.  
8\. Loki became Ocean Master.  
9\. The Other as Steppenwolf.  
10\. Thanos became Darkseid as the big bad behind the scenes.  
11\. The big alien invasion becomes the armies of Atlantis attacking Metropolis instead the Chitari attacking New York.  
12\. Nick Fury for Amanda Waller.  
13\. SHIELD and ARGUS were easily interchangeable.  
14\. The Tesseract is a Mother Box.  
15\. Maria Hill becomes any number of agents. I chose Agent Cameron Chase.  
16\. Phil Coulson for Steve Trevor. Think about Phil fangirling over Captain America and now see it as Steve and Diana. So much fun!
> 
> No Flash or Cyborg… though Quicksilver in the second Avengers movie was another no-brainer. Even using Zatanna for Scarlet Witch. 
> 
> See how it so easily fits? By Rao, but it almost wrote itself!!!
> 
> I was halfway through the various modifications, when my wife said using a superhero movie for a different set of superheroes was against the rules. Fine… grumble, grumble. So much time wasted… back to the drawing board.
> 
> Netflix to the rescue. 
> 
> “He Never Died” is an out there kinda thriller slash supernatural movie that made me laugh. Henry Rollins for the win. And it had enough powers being used that I could work some stuff in that would fit for our alien bombshell, though A LOT had to be removed. Watch the movie and you’ll understand. Yuck!
> 
> What you have below is a Supergirl Fan Fiction that used about 80% of the script from the “He Never Died” movie. I freely admit that cut and paste was used heavily, as was the movie’s framework for the story. Much had to be changed, but… hey! This is what fanfiction sites are all about, right?
> 
> Thanks for reading.

Everyone was screaming. All around, a cacophony of noise that was made up of millions upon millions of voices, all begging for help… with no one there to save them.

Flashes of color… green, then white. Blue swiftly took over before the orange could gain too strong of a foothold. Everything started to go black, the colors all mixing together in a sludge of… well, yuck, before the crimson drops started raining down., coating everything in a deep red that made anyone that looked at it of blood.

And maybe gore.

There was no pain, at least. It was just a psychedelic tsunami of colors and sounds and smells that forced you to either accept it as the everything it wanted to become… or to drown underneath the weight of its nothingness. If there was another option, it was beyond any hope of discovery.

In fact, if not for the rhythmic pounding, it might almost be too much. She tried to focus on the pounding, as it might offer her a possibly unknown third choice to the problem that had plagued her for so, so very long.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

She followed the sound, ignoring the hands that desperately clutched at her cape, tearing it.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Closer. She was getting closer. Finally.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

The knocking at the door wouldn’t stop. She tried to roll over, to bury her head under the threadbare pillow that came with the dingy, one room apartment, but the knocking at the door just would not go away. Kara wearily got up from the bed, ignoring how the broken springs within the stained mattress seemed to almost sigh with relief. Not bothering to worry that she was only wearing an old Batman tee shirt, the once blonde hero referred to as the ‘Maiden of Might’ opened the door.

“Oh, I...” the elderly woman exclaimed as Kara quickly opened the door. She recognized Mrs. Landrey – the landlord for the building – almost immediately. The woman never knocked on her door unless rent was due. Without a word, Kara closed the door and made her way over to the trunk at the foot of her bed. Opening the lead-lined trunk, the Kryptonian paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to the various baubles and treasures contained within, but rather just grabbed four one-hundred dollar bills before letting the lid slam shut. When she opened the front door again, Mrs. Landrey hadn’t moved. Kara quickly handed the landlady the bills.

“Thank you.” She said, taking the money. “How you doing today, Kara?”

She ignored the elder woman’s question for one of her own. “What time is it?”

“It'll soon be 2:00. Yeah.”

“How about the day?”

The woman in the hallway seemed taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“What day is it?” Kara repeated.

“It's the fourth!”

“Friday?” Kara attempted to clarify. She was apparently wrong.

“No,” Mrs. Landrey corrected, “it's Tuesday.”

“All right.”

“Now you take care. I don't think you're...”

Bored with the conversation now, Kara closed the door in her landlady’s face. It would be fine. She’d paid her rent. So there wasn’t really any further reason to continue talking. As she moved towards her bed to resume sleeping, Kara tried to ignore the green haze that seemed to cover the National City skies these days.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

Time had surely passed, though how much wasn’t really a concern for Kara these days: no job to scurry off to each morning; no friends or family to share meals with, spending hours together talking and playing. There wasn’t any current need for super heroics… well, that was a lie, actually. Every day she could hear the screams that filed the night. People begging for a savior… for someone to swoop in and save the day. News reports were full of the latest atrocities across the city, the state, the nation and the world. The Earth needed a hero, but her the once lauded Supergirl – the Girl of Steel & the Maiden of Might - sat in an uncomfortable recliner in a dingy, low-rent apartment in a no-so-great part of the city watching the news report on how fucked up the world is.

“…ports that the gunman has, as of yet, made no demands.” The woman reporter tried to maintain her composure as officers in heavy armor and very large rifles were directing her and the other news people further away from the barricade outside of the Second Bank of National City. 

Kara noted it looked to be near the corner of Binder Street and Plastino Avenue. That was only a ten minute walk as a human would move. Mere seconds for a Kryptonian.

The sound of gunfire pulled Kara form her musings. The reporter was ducking down… though without any cover, she was a sitting duck to become another statistic. She was, however, still trying to keep her live broadcast going. “As you can hear, David, any attempts by the police have been, so far, repelled successfully by the gunman or gunmen inside. There is currently no word on what these attempts to enter the bank could mean for the reported eighteen hostages insi…”

Click.

Kara changed the channel. It would most likely be hours before there was any resolution to a bank robbery turned hostage situation. She just didn’t have it in her to care any longer. And besides, there was no telling really on whose side she would end choosing in the end. Better to just stay out of it. She popped one of her pills and followed it up with some cold coffee, black.

What the hell was on the television? I commercial for hemorrhoids? No thank you.

Click.

“…nd it looks like we’ve got a few more days before we’ll see any chance of rain in the National City metro area. Latest forcas…”

Click.

“…ul You Kay Are Pea in Cin-cin-naaaatttiiii….”

Click.

“…er news, New Gotham City is celebrating its Fourteenth Anniversary this weekend.” Kara watched as the picture on the television moved from the square-jawed pretty boy newscaster to a wide shot of the bright, shiny buildings that made up the new city skyline. She tried to not remember the gothic, dark look that the old skyline provided for vigilantes to run around and hide in. “Many of our younger viewers may not rememb…”

Had it really been so long since Gotham had been destroyed and forced to rebuild along with the other cities along the Eastern Coast? Those that could rebuild? 

She closed her eyes and pushed the remote again.

Click.

“…me how to get… how to get to Sesame St…”

Click.

“…une in tonight at 8:00 PM Pacific for the premiere of the LNN exclusive, The Rise and Fall of the Justice League, hosted by the Luthor News Network’s very own… Iris West-Thaw…”

Click.

“…der Man. Does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size. Catches thieves, just like flies. Wa…”

Okay. That was enough. She turned the TV off and threw the remote onto the bed. Maybe she should invest in cable again.

Standing, Kara idly noted her reflection in the mirror through the open bathroom door. The person that stared back at her was closer to looking like her sister than of the once Last Daughter of Krypton. Dark hair (dyed, of course) that was cut asymmetrically above the shoulders; and pale skin (mostly due to staying out of the sunlight… who could stand to be outside when everything was tinted green?). Kara was still fit, though that was primarily due to her alien heritage, since she never really did anything anymore. The redness liked activity, therefore Kara tried to be as idle as possible. 

She grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor that still smelled mostly clean. Those, along with her high top sneakers and the hoodie she pretty much wore all the time, and she was ready to meet the day. Wow, but that sounded bad even in her head. As she finished tying her shoes, Kara noted the red that danced along her fingertips. The clock on the nightstand said it was nearing 5:00. 

Time to go.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

After confirming again that there was no one else around, she moved quickly… but at human level speed… towards the car that sat silently alone on the parking lot. As she drew nearer, Kara could see that the young man in the driver’s seat of the vehicle was asleep; his D.E.O. jacket was being used as a makeshift blanket. She rapped her knuckles softly against the glass.

“Oh.” The man sat up, wiping quickly at his bloodshot eyes. “How long have I been asleep?”

Kara regarded the young man with a tilt of her head, her dyed brown hair catching the wind. “I don't know how I would know that?”

The guy nodded. “Makes sense.”

Kara stepped back from the door to give him room to open the car’s door and step out. They both moved over towards the trunk. As he opened the trunk and reached in to grab a paper sack, he attempted small talk. Why was everyone so determined to get her to talk?

“So, how've you been?”

Shrugging as she took the sack from him, she glanced in to check its contents. “Yeah.”

“That look good to you?”

“Yeah.” She closed the bag and pushed it into the front pocket of her National City Tribune hoodie. She pulled an envelope prom her back jean’s pocket and handed it over. She was ready to go, but her… well, dealer – for lack of another word, seemed especially chatty today. 

“Hey, I heard through the grapevine that, um, you used to work for Luthor? Lena Luthor, I mean. Not Lex, of course.”

“Okay.” Kara answered noncommittedly. There was no possibility in any of the worlds in the multiverse that he deserved any type of actual answer to his inquiry.

“Well, is that true?” He pressed.

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She repeated. This time, she added a pointed look directly into his eyes. He took the hint. 

Her contact slowly moved towards the door of his car, clearly ready to make his escape. Finally. “Well, um, I just wanted to tell you... that my time at the desert installation is gonna be over in two weeks and...”

“I'll find another supplier.” She answered promptly.

“Where are you gonna find another guy that’ll get that stuff for you?”

“Money.” She almost laughed... if she still did that type of thing. “People like money.”

“All righty then, worked on me.” He paused for a moment. “Oh yeah, I actually won't be able to do Thursday.” He offered as he opened the door next to the driver’s seat of his car. “So, maybe we can connect tomorrow? You know, same time?”

“Okay.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a goofy grin. It reminded her of Winn… she didn’t want to go there. “You know, discreet's the way to go. The whole reason why I can't do Friday... is my sister has this big orientation thing and you know, I gotta be...”

Bored with his ramblings, Kara turned and left. From over her shoulder, she could hear him call out to her that he’d meet with her tomorrow.

SG * HND * SG * HND

Kara opened the kitchen cabinet, pushing through the various boxes of junk food that filled almost every available amount of free space. Towards the back of the lower most shelf, she emptied the various orange pills from the paper sack and hid them within an empty Twinkies box, but not before she took one and dry swallowed it. The effects, she rationally knew, were not immediate, but she always felt better after taking one; the red glow that seemed to follow the veins throughout her body seemed less bright… her thoughts were less homicidal.

Brainy would have gone on about psycho-schematic response or something, but whatever. Kara briefly turned the television on, maybe there was an old sitcom or something that could take her mind away from the baseless reality of her world for a little while, but nothing but news about yet another crisis happening in the world today. That, or yet another celebrity had done something to catch the public’s eye. She idly noted that the Booster Gold trial jury deliberations was entering its fifteenth day just as she cut the boob tube off.

Maybe a nap… 

Someone was knocking at her door. Again. She checked her reflection in the mirror that was on the far wall. No sign of redness in her eyes. That was good.

Opening the door, there was a young woman – a girl, really – standing there. She seemed a bit old for a Girl Scout, and besides, no cookies that Kara could see. Something about the girl sparked a feeling in Kara’s chest, though she had no idea why. Dark hair, brown eyes and a lip ring that matched the twenty or so hoops and studs in her ears. Why did Kara try to picture her hair red? Before Kara could say anything, the girl bolted for the stairs. Wrong apartment, maybe? Kara closed the door and returned to her bed… once again ignoring how the springs squeaked under her weight.

When there was a knock at her door yet again, Kara truly considered that today officially sucked. Maybe the Girl Scout found her cookies. Opening the door, there was no girl, but two fairly despicable looking guys that almost literally screamed ‘bad guys’ in Kara’s mind. That, or agents. James would’ve said that they were the ultimate stereotype for the word ‘henchmen.’

This was going to go so well.

“Hey.” Thug Number One offered.

Okay. She could play along. “Hi.”

“How was your meeting with William?”

“Who’s William?” She asked. Kara really didn’t know.

“Your little supplier friend.”

Oh. That William. “Fine.”

Thug Number Two decided to join the conversation. “Wow... great.”

“Oh, okay... okay.”

“So...” Kara used her hand to indicate that they should get to the point.

“You and William meet often?”

“Sometimes.”

“Oh, yeah, well, we're looking into what you and he have been doing... not nice to steal. That stuff’s heavy regulated.” Thug Number One lowered his voice menacingly. “So, maybe you should join us for a ride.”

“I'm okay.” She smiled with absolutely no humor.

“Oh, yeah, you know what?” Thug Number Two was getting a bit ballsy. Finally.

Thug Number One started to flex up a bit. “That's not really an option.” He pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it at her face.

She backed up. He took it as fear, but mostly, it was to better control the ricochet if he actually was able to pull the trigger before she was ready. Kara didn’t even need to look to know that this type of excitement would definitely cause the redness to return. More pills to be swallowed.

Kara could hear the muscles of his finger as he began to actually shoot her. The gun was out of his hand and crushed within her grip before the action could take place. In his momentary stupor, Thug Number Two decided he’d punch the poor little twenty-something looking girl in the face to prove how big and strong he was over the weaker sex. Kara rolled with the punch so that every bone in his hand wasn’t shattered upon impact.

Instead, it just hurt. For him. Really, really bad she was sure.

“Don't.” She offered. Kara was trying to be nice. 

“What?” Thug Number One was finally realizing that his pistol was gone from his hand, not to mention that it was on the floor crumpled up like a used tissue. Brains were definitely not a prerequisite for agents slash minions these days. Oh, for the good ol’ days when Lex Luthor or Maxwell Lord or even Amanda Waller sent semi-competent lackeys after you. 

Thug Number Two was a bit too confident, even with his failure to phase her after his punch. Maybe she should have let his bones be broken. “You want trouble, you got it” He sprayed some type of pepper spray or mace into her eyes. No effect, but it pissed her off. She could tell that it included some type of colored dye. It would be Hell to get off.

Kara kneed Thug Number Two between his legs in response. No super strength at all needed. Promise. “Aw, my balls!”

“Huh.” Thug Number One seemed to finally catch on that they were way out of their depth. 

His scream as she tossed them both out of her apartment and down the stairs almost brought a smile to her face. “Agh...”

Now she just needed to somehow figure out why these morons were in her apartment. What was William doing?

SG * HND * SG * HND 

“Hey, Kara.” The Noonan’s Diner waitress greeted as she approached her booth. Kara was a regular around this time… plus she tipped fairly well, so the staff here recognized her, for the most part. That, and they left her to her own devices.

The waitress pulled up short once she got a good look at Kara. “Oh, my god, what happened to your eyes?”

“Um...” Kara sighed. She had washed her face vigorously, but the dye still left the skin around her eyes slightly blue in color. She’d looked like Oliver when he first returned to Starling City.

“Pepper spray.” She offered softly.

“Somebody maced you?”

“Yeah, mace.”

“Why?” The cute waitress asked.

“It was an accident.” Kara attempted a smile. “My landlord thought I was robbing my own apartment.”

“Really? Isn't your landlord, like, something like a ninety year old woman?”

“Yeah, but she's spry.” The former superhero deadpanned.

“Hmm, can I get you some ice for that? A cold washcloth?”

“No, I'm fine.”

The waitress nodded, her demeanor suddenly seeming uncomfortable. “Um, do you know what you want to order?”

“Grilled chicken plate.”

“That's it?”

“Yeah.”

“You want barbecue sauce? Or maybe honey mustard?”

“No. Plain is fine.”

“Do you have anything on the agenda for later tonight?”

Why was the waitress asking so many questions? What was going on today? “Nothing... sleeping, so, no.”

“Um, something to drink?”

“Hot tea. No sugar.”

The waitress wrote it down on her pad. “Right... okay.”

Was she flirting with her? Kara couldn’t remember the last time someone had actually paid any type of real attention towards her… after the Lena fiasco… Kate, maybe… but then again, it had been years since Kara had taken the time to care about her appearance in any real way. Beauty was recognized. Plain was easily forgotten. Usually.

Sigh.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

Her home phone was ringing. Why did she have a landline? Oh. Right. It came with the apartment. Who still had landline telephones? Everyone carried mobile devices now. Not that Kara had a cellphone. She’d tossed her custom designed L-Phone with satellite connectivity towards the sun so many years ago. It had seemed pretty pointless to get another one after that.

The landline telephone continued to ring. When it showed absolutely no intention of stopping, she decided that the only way to get it to stop was to either answer it… or throw this one into the sun, as well. It seemed easier to just answer it.

“Hello”

“Kara? Is that you?”

“Maggie?” She should’ve thrown it towards the sun. “Why are you calling me, Maggie? I remember hating you.” She immediately went to the cabinet to grab a few more pills. Definitely needed the pills for this caller.

“Shut the fuck up!” Her once-upon-a-time sister-in-law snarled back. “I need you to go pick up Eliza before she gets into a car and...”

At Maggie’s use of her foster mother’s name, memories of happier times came rushing back. Back before… There was a reason she kept taking those pills…

“Other than the obvious answer, Maggie… who the fuck's Eliza?”

“My kid... she came by your place earlier today.” Maggie answered quickly.

Kara definitely didn’t have time for this. “I'm hanging up.”

“No, no, no.” The former police detective spoke quickly. “She just called from a pay phone and she said she's coming home soon. I don't want to her driving drunk. You're the only person left in National City that I know.”

“How’d you know I was here? And where did you get this number?”

She could hear Maggie breathing heavily. “I called in a favor from Barbara; because Eliza wanted answers.”

Fucking Bats… Kara wanted to destroy Gotham City on principle. Well…. New Gotham City now. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Kara sighed into the phone. “Maggie, I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Eliza.”

“Repeating my dead foster mother’s name doesn't help.”

“Eliza is my daughter, you dumb bitch; she said she saw you this afternoon.” Dumb bitch? Wow, someone was feeling high and mighty and fairly safe under the new governmental regulations and laws. Kara turned around and stared at her front door, trying to replay how her day had gone up until this moment. “Hello? Hello?”

“She was here.” The woman that had once been called Supergirl finally admitted.

“I know. But she's out drinking now, because you said or did something that sent her up the fucking wall.” Maggie Sawyer’s voice was full of spite and accusation… nothing Kara wasn’t familiar with.

“I opened the door and she ran off. That's it.” She offered as an explanation to her dead sister’s ex-wife.

“You fucked it up, Kara.”

“I don't even know what I did.” Kara explained to one of the few people left on this Earth that knew so many of her dark secrets. Maybe almost all of them. Probably all of them.

“She just wanted to meet you.”

“Why?” Kara asked. 

“Take a guess.” Maggie Sawyer’s voice was tired.

Kara considered all of the possible reasons. In a fucked up story, it would be her kid that Maggie had kept from her, but Maggie and Kara had never bumped uglies. And besides, even with being an alien, woman plus woman did not equal procreation, no matter how hard the lesbian community might wish for it.

Lena had wanted that type of thing, too.

Kara tried to focus. Before Maggie had ran, she and Alex had been trying for a kid of their own. Fertilized eggs and turkey basters, all around. Had the detective finally succeeded and then bolted from her sister? Had Alex been a mother and never known it?

“I hate you.” Kara finally stated into the phone. The kid was most likely her niece. Named after Alex’s mother. Kara’s foster mother. Fucking great. Now more than ever she wished that she was still allowed to use her powers. Maggie would be headed towards the outer atmosphere before she could beg for her life.

“Fuck you, Kara.” Maggie responded in kind. “Just pick her up, please.”

“Where is she again?”

“Do you remember that bar, Darla’s?”

Kara remembered. It might have almost two decades, but she was cursed to remember almost everything. Again… the reason for pills. “What do I do with her?”

“Just don't let her drive home drunk as shit. She's got a habit of doing that. She's had her license suspended, she's...”

“Eliza's the name?” Like Kara was ever going to forget that.

“Yes, Kara, Eliza... Jesus Christ. Eliza K. Sawyer. Don’t ask what the K is for.”

“All right.” Kara finally agreed. “Never call me again. Lose my number. You won’t like what happens if you do.” She disconnected the line before Maggie could say anything further. 

By Rao, but this was a situation she never thought she’d be in. A niece. How dare the woman that had nearly destroyed her sister do something like this… to have Alex’s kid and to never tell her the truth? And that she’d been so god damned selfish! 

Kara quickly grabbed her hoodie and made her way over to Darla’s. The setting sun caused the green mist in the skies to seem brighter than usual. Upon approach, the bar still seemed so skivvy. There were almost no signs that the bar was anything other than an abandoned warehouse – and that was when it was almost legitimate. But since the Alien Registration and Certification Act had been pushed through, safe places that catered to non-terrestrials were a thing of the past. Now, Darla’s was still up and running, but its clientele was closely monitored, i.e., patrolled and often black bagged by agencies whose names were usually a bunch of letters. 

“Hi, there.” Some generic human looking bartender offered in greeting. Looking around, the place was practically empty… but it was a bit early, and a school night.

“Have you seen a young lady with a lip ring in here today?”

“What does she look like?” He never stopped wiping the empty beer mug as he answered.

“A young lady with a lip ring.”

“You her sister or something?” Twenty or so god-damned years for Maggie to have Alex’s kid grow up and Kara still probably looked just a few years older. The best and worst curse of living under a yellow sun.

Kara was getting upset. By now, the cameras that any business that catered to aliens was required to have up and running would have noted her appearance. That could be bad. Not that she cared much anymore, but it would make things more complicated. “She was here?”

“Yeah... you family?”

“Do you know where she is?”

“Are you something to her?” He continued to push. Kara considered vaporizing him where he stood. She glanced down at her hands, idly noting the glow of red that seemed to dance underneath her impenetrable skin.

“Yeah.” She finally offered in the hopes that he’d give her the information that she wanted. If she still wore the cape he’d have answered, she bet.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes, I'm her family.” Kara admitted out loud.

“She left with Tim.”

“Who's Tim?”

The bartender seemed like he didn’t want to answer. Kara watched as he put down the beer mug he’d been cleaning and pick up another one. The rag he was using looked dirtier than the mugs he was attempting to wipe down.

“Hey!” She raised her voice, allowing a bit of power to slip in. He immediately looked up. “Who's Tim?”

“He's a mailman or something.” What the fuck?

“Where is he now?”

“No idea.”

“Where does he live?”

“N-no...” he stuttered, “no idea.”

“What's his last name?”

“Drake.”

“Drake?”

“Drake.” He repeated.

Kara glared at the man before she turned and made her way towards the exit door. Her attention was caught by the camera in the corner of the room, its red light blinking furiously. Feeling a bit naughty, Kara winked and waved at the camera. Let whoever was watching wonder at seeing her on the screen and worry.

There was a phone booth outside the bar; probably where Eliza had called Maggie from. It was funny that phone booths had started to make a comeback in recent years, but with all of the damage done after the big superhero slash supervillain bru-ha-ha’s that had caused so much trouble… not to mention how the cell towers always got so jammed up after the latest crisis or whatever, having a landline of some type seemed to help. The phone directory in the booth provided an address for a Tim Drake that lived just a few blocks from Darla’s. 

Nice and easy. Finally.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

Knocking on Drake’s door hadn’t really resulted in any type of response. She took a deep breath and used her x-ray vision to confirm that Eliza was inside. She was. Her niece was currently sitting on this asshole’s couch in nothing but a tee shirt, while both of them were smoking a joint. She knocked again, this time putting a little more force into it. Kara was quite sure that the entire apartment complex had felt her knocking that time. 

Tim opened the door. What her x-ray vision hadn’t really allowed her to realize was that Tim Drake was older than Eliza. By quite a bit.

“You're about thirty-five.” She accused. “Maybe forty.”

“What do you want?”

“Is Eliza there?”

Tim rolled his eyes and made to slam the door in her face. “Ugh, fuck off!”

Kara caught the door with no problem whatsoever. He tried again, but the door refused to budge. As he tried to stare her down, she allowed her heat vision to cause her eyes to go from sky blue to molten white for a brief moment. Mr. Tim Drake decided on the smarter option.

“Hold on.”

Kara decided that she wasn’t going to kill him. He was fairly all right to look at…. Nearly black hair and nice eyes. Maybe a little soft around the middle, but what did he need to exercise for? She listened as from inside the apartment, Kara could hear him telling Eliza to get out. And quickly. There was some rustling of clothes being put on and adjust just before the young brunette finally came to the door. Tim made himself scarce.

“Hi!” Eliza offered brightly… she was clearly high.

“Your mother called.”

“Oh.” Her niece offered. “You're intimidating.”

Kara didn’t roll her eyes. “Okay.”

“Nervous, it's a big thing for me. I have this thing with alcohol, actually.” Eliza began to ramble. Alex would have said that she had inherited it from Kara. “I feel bad, because you probably were just worried...”

“Please stop.” Kara interrupted. “So, you're fine?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I'm leaving.” Kara replied bluntly. “Don't die before you get to your mother's.”

“So, that's it?” Eliza was clearly puzzled.

“Sure... I'm done.”

Eliza grabbed hold of Kara’s wrist. “Well, I feel like we should just... you know, um...”

She knew where this was going. “What?”

“Talk.”

Kara nodded. She tried to not see some of her sister’s features in the girl in front of her… but Alex’s eyes were staring at her, pleading with her – and Kara could never refuse those eyes. Not until the end, at least. She nodded again and watched as Eliza closed Tim’s door behind her.

“What do you want to do?”

“I could eat.” Eliza spoke softly.

As they made their way towards the stairwell towards the front entrance, Eliza started chewing at her lower lip. “Oh, um... do you mind if I stay over?”

Of course.

SG * HND * SG * HND 

It was dark out. She could almost pretend that things weren’t completely fucked up and that the sky wasn’t still coated in a green haze that changed the color of everything wherever you looked. 

There was something about Noonan’s Diner that Kara just couldn’t stay away from. Sure, early on… after everything had fallen apart, Kara had returned here just to be as close to CatCo … or what used to be the CatCo building…as she could. Not as Kara Danvers, of course. Too many government types were trying to find her and throw her in with so many of the other villains… to whatever special gulag they’d dreamed up. For crimes both imaginary and real…

Not her, though. 

No. Kara had used up every resource she had accumulated during her tenure as both a superhero and villain and called up every debt owed, no matter how minor or insignificant it might have seemed at the time… but it had worked. Supergirl had vanished without a trace, as had Kara Danvers. Now, it had been years since she’d been seen… nearly two decades… and it was finally somewhat safe to return to the city that she had once called home. Had once been the savior to – and villain.

Sure, there were ghosts almost everywhere she looked. Memories of Alex and Winn, Ms. Grant and J’onn and Nia, Brainy. And Susan. Even Lena before…. Before the happier times all turned to shit. Before the red took over her life.

“So, what happened to you today?” Her niece’s voice pulled her from falling further into her melancholy. 

“Uh...” At her confusion, Eliza gestured towards Kara’s eyes. Oh! The blue dye. Kara blinked several times before she came up with something plausible. “Someone attacked me earlier today.”

“Seriously? Someone attacked you? You? Where?”

“My apartment, right after you left.” Kara offered lamely.

“Why?”

“I actually don't know.” Kara shrugged. She chose not to answer since they were soon to not be alone.

“Hey, I see you keep coming back here to…” The waitress from earlier had been approaching, but pulled up short to see someone else at Kara’s booth. “Somebody' here with you. Hi, there.”

Eliza offered the waitress a smile. “Hello.”

She glanced over to Kara again. “I just never seen you here with anyone else, so...”

“I'm Eliza.”

“Stephanie.” The waitress, Stephanie apparently, offered back with a smile of her own.

Now that she had the name, Kara took a moment to look over the woman that had been serving her for the past few months… maybe flirting with her. Stephanie… no last name currently, seemed to be a late twenties or early thirties dirty blonde; fairly fit, woman. She seemed tired, although working at a diner in National City could be enough to exhaust anyone without super powers. Stephanie was fairly nice looking, in Kara’s opinion. Alex would’ve approved.

Kara sighed internally and set her menu down. “I think I want the grilled cheese plate with milk.”

“Does she come here a lot?” Eliza was asking Stephanie.

“Oh, yeah, about every day.”

“Wow... I guess that's...” At Kara’s glare, Eliza just rolled her eyes, but she changed the subject. “I’m just visiting my aunt.”

“Your aunt?” Stephanie glanced back and forth between Eliza and Kara. “Okay, so, you never mentioned a niece.”

Kara shrugged. “Um, yeah, I don't know why.”

Stephanie seemed to accept that answer. “Um, do you know what you want to order?”

“I want the grilled cheese plate. And a milk.” She repeated.

Eliza set her menu down on top of Kara’s. “I will have… chicken Caesar salad. And a chocolate milkshake.”

“All right, I will be right back.” They both watched as Stephanie made her way towards the kitchen to relay their order. The silence seemed to drag on for a few moments.

Eliza started chewing at her lower lip again. “I, uh, don't have money, so...”

“Then how did you end up inebriated?” Kara asked already suspecting the answer.

“Vaginas, as I’m sure you already know, are like coupon books for alcohol.”

There were so many things wrong with her niece’s statement that Kara had no idea where to even begin. Under twenty and drinking? Or was she older? Using sex, most likely, just for drinks and a little bit of weed? Or the uncaring attitude towards the whole endeavor?

“So…” Eliza spoke before Kara could formulate any type of response to her earlier exclamation. “Grilled cheese? With milk to drink? That’s something my Mom would’ve made me as a kid?”

“I don't eat sugar.”

“Really? I'd heard that you used to eat sweets and junk food every chance you got.”

What exactly had Maggie fuckin’ Sawyer told this little girl about who Kara had been? And what gave that damnable woman the right to say anything in the first place?

“If it has sugar, I don't eat it. Not anymore.”

“So, you're like a diabetic? Can you - being you - even be diabetic?”

“I guess.”

“Why? Chocolate exists. They make medicine for diabetes.”

Kara thought back to the Saturday mornings curled up between Alex and Maggie, junk food the only thing in the apartment and Kara making fun of her sister for not being able to eat that any longer… all in the name of love. Those morning of vegan pancakes with sugar-free syrup and fake meat products. And the smiles that two people so in love once shared between one another.

Traitorous bitch!

Kara offered her niece none of that, though she probably deserved to know it… more than anyone else alive today. “No reason.”

“That's okay, I guess.” Eliza said when Kara offered nothing else. “So, what do you do now? Since the superhero thing is a no-go… or do you, like, do the vigilante thing, maybe?”

Maggie Sawyer did tell Eliza something about who Kara had actually been. Everyone probably knew by now much of what happened twenty years ago… or what the governments of the world allowed to be known – the truth always was a bit of a stretch for those trying to keep their power intact. She wondered what schools taught children regarding the heyday of superheroes and supervillains flying across the skies: of men of technology and aliens of wondrous heritage; of gods that walked among mortals; and of the men and women that challenged all of them time and time again.

“We were talking about chocolate. Sugar.”

Eliza scrunched up her nose. She looked like Eliza Danvers at that moment, so much so that Kara had to focus on the dark streets through the window. “But I have so many questions. Can’t you give me something?”

Kara shook her head as she fiddled with the cutlery in front of her, ignoring the redness that wanted out. Pills were at the apartment. “We just met a few hours ago. Knock it down a peg.”

The younger girl sat back in her seat, a forlorn expression of her face. “Sorry. I just wanted, ya know…”

“It's a little intense.” Kara offered softly back. She was strangely resistant to intentionally hurting this girl that was an actual link to her sister.

“Sorry, I was just curious.” Eliza leans forward and rests her elbows on the table between them. “So… no sugar? Like, ever?”

Kara nods. “No sweets. No alcohol. Since, ya know, well… doctor’s orders and such. Me drinking or having sugar leads to a whole world of bad.”

“Is that why…”

Kara interrupts before the younger girl can ask something that Kara should never answer. “Are you still staying over tonight?” 

“Uh, is that all right with you if I did?” Eliza asked, looking almost like she expected Kara to reject her outright. She really knew nothing about her… 

“How long?” Kara asked.

“Two days?”

The former superhero nodded. “Maybe we can start slow.” At Eliza’s hopeful look, Kara offered her a small smile. “I can tell you about Alex. Do you know about Alex?”

Eliza’s whole face lit up. “Yeah. I know some about my other mother. Mom made sure to tell me some things about her.”

“Good.”

SG * HND * SG * HND

Kara had thought it would’ve been harder, talking about her sister. 

Sure, those early days before Supergirl and the D.E.O. and the rest were easy. Days of laughter and sunshine, surfing and food. She and Eliza talked for hours reminiscing of days long, long past. It hurt, a little bit, that Maggie had only briefly touched on her and Alex’s marriage, though her being the coward that she apparently had been should have been proof enough. Stories of game nights and outings and family dinners…

Her niece had briefly touched on the fact that her mother had gotten remarried for a few years, sometime between Eliza’s fourth through ninth year. Apparently, it wasn’t the greatest of relationships, though from her perspective, it had been Maggie’s fault the marriage failed… not Renee’s. Kara tried to be sympathetic, but she wasn’t that good of a liar.

Sipping tea with her sister’s daughter, Kara could feel the redness retreat, allowing for the former superhero to enjoy the night – though it wouldn’t last. Eliza was determined to know about Supergirl… and who wouldn’t, thought Kara. She was possibly the Most Wanted Person to every government across the world, though most probably knew where Kara was, in general. It was easier for those in charge to act like they wanted to capture her, but it was a whole new game to actually try and take her in.

Too many good men and women, dedicated soldiers and true heroes, would never be going home due to those early days of Governmental arrogance. 

“Why did you do it?” Eliza finally asked.

Kara didn’t have to ask her to clarify. It’s the question that everyone wanted an answer to… and, truthfully, the person now asking might be the only person Kara felt deserved to know. Taking a breath, she leaned down, her vantage form the chair versus Eliza’s position sitting on the floor needing to be more equal for this conversation. 

“Have you ever been in love?”

Eliza apparently wasn’t expecting the question. She took a moment before shaking her head in the negative. “IK really liked a boy in my senior year. He was cute and nice… and I thought I loved him, but… No. I don’t think I’ve ever been in love.”

The fake brunette nodded. “I was always in love. Constantly. Individually, there was Lori in college first. Then Rick. James came later. Ms. Grant, maybe always, since I first met her. Lucy was a big one. M’Onel. And between all of them, I loved your mother like nothing else. Alex was maybe the love of my life.

“My being in love didn’t always equate as humans think it should be, being in love having to mean romantically, but I loved. Just loved.” Kara drank the last of her tea, desperately wanting it to have a drop of honey in it. “And me being in love helped me love everyone else in the world. I was able to give my all to the world that took me in and loved me, maybe not in the same way, but it was love all the same.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The only person that rivaled your mother Alex in regards to me moving them was a woman named Lena Luthor.”

At the name, Eliza’s eyes opened wide. “Bu-but… didn’t she…?” 

Kara nodded. “I won’t-Can’t go into too much. Not now.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s just say that those that you give your all to have the greatest ability to destroy you.”

“What happened?”

“Lena thought I loved her the most and that she could use that love to destroy me.” Pause. “And if I had loved her like she expected that I did, it most likely would have worked… but I loved Alex the most. Again, not as you and the rest of humanity think being in love should be, but as the Last Daughter of Krypton truly loved someone does. I watched my entire civilization explode. Lena’s plan, while brilliant, paled in comparison. No master plan by any supervillain could ever come close to what I’d already experienced.”

The younger girl was confused. It was written all over her face. “But that doesn’t explain…”

“It does to me. And it would for you if you knew everything.” Kara smiled softly. “I think you’d have to have lived through it… or maybe died during it, to truly understand.”

“Why, though.” Eliza was almost pleading. “Why did you do it?”

She stood. Kara discreetly checked her pockets to confirm she had her pills. She definitely needed them. “I had the choice of either becoming a pawn for Lena… her dark consort, maybe… or being my own person, to choose who I got to love and who to be. I choose me. Possibly for the first time ever.”

Eliza realized that Kara was leaving. “Where are you going? I have so many more questions! I still don’t understand.”

“I’ll be back.” Kara ruffled the smaller girl’s hair. “I need some air. A walk will do me some good.”

SG * HND * SG * HND

Stephanie was still probably working at Noonan’s – a conversation that Kara definitely didn’t want to occur, so she chose to walk in the opposite direction. The late night was dark enough that she could almost pretend that the green haze was non-existent and that the stars above twinkled in their glorious white light.

Almost.

Mister Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking was still open. Kara made her way inside, deciding to sit at the counter slash bar as opposed to any of the various empty chairs and booths that littered the small dining area. The walls were decorated with various generic photographs of Chinese temples, as well as the Great Wall. It wasn’t going to win any interior design awards, but it ultimately really did not matter.

An elderly, Chinese woman shuffled over to where Kara sat.

“Ah, hot tea. No sugar.”

“Okay, hot tea.” The woman repeated. 

Kara pulled out the three pills she had squirreled away in her jeans pocket. She thank the woman who poured the tea for her, before sipping the hot drink to wash down the illegal medications she so desperately needed. Another lasting ramification for choosing herself rather than submitting to her once girlfriend’s maniacal need to be proven the absolute winner in a game only she had known was being played.

Fuck.

SG * HND * SG * HND

It had been easier to fly through her window than to try and enter her apartment without waking Eliza. Kara hadn’t really bene gone that long. Had she? Well, either way, Kara sat down on the edge of her bed, wincing slightly as the bed creaked under her weight. Looking over to where her niece was curled up in the old lounge chair as only a teenager could possibly pull off, Kara felt tears start to pool in her eyes. 

The old clock she had bad her bedside was showing it to be nearly one in the morning. She picked up the digital device, not really seeing it, but rather her mind was refusing to just shut up. The redness that had been so carefully held at bay was wanting out. Kara wanted to let it out.

She’d made her fucking choices! Why the fuck would Fate decide now to give her something to care about? Huh!?! 

In a fit of childish, yet uncontrollable rage, Kara crushed the clock in her hands. It was not a quiet action.

“Oh, god.” Eliza sat up. “What? What, is everything okay?”

Kara sighed. “It's nothing. Go back to sleep.”

“Yeah, okay, I just forgot where I was for a minute.” Eliza closed her eyes. Kara dropped the remains of the clock. She’d need to remember to get another one. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Kara repeated. “Go back to sleep.”

As Eliza’s breathing slowly evened out, Kara shook her head and opened the kitchen cabinet and retrieved two more pills. Her stash was running dangerously low. She moved back to the window. She couldn’t be here. Not with the red so desperately close to the surface.

But the night sky was suddenly calling.

SG * HND * SG * HND

Maybe Bruce had the right idea, skulking around in the shadows, hidden from the prying eyes of those that wanted to control you, bind you into doing things their way. Kal had been wrong to trust the Government. A boy scout, indeed.

In the darkness, Kara flew… 

SG * HND * SG * HND

As she approached her apartment door, she could discern that Eliza was on the landline with her mother. Kara was intentionally forcing herself to no listen to Maggie’s side of the conversation. No, she definitely didn’t want to hear that traitorous bitch’s voice ever again… well, maybe screaming as Sawyer reached maximum velocity as she passed out of the Earth’s atmosphere.

No, the hurt feelings over keeping Alex’s daughter away wasn’t going to go away any time soon.

“Yeah, she picked me up last night.” Eliza repeated for what had to be the third time. “No, she found me at the diner.” At least she could lie well.

There was a longer pause as Maggie apparently had a thought or six to share.

“Yeah, yeah, well, I was planning on finding a motel... and then just coming home in the morning.”

Pause.

“No. Yeah, I'm fine.”

Pause again.

“She's fine, so far.”

Kara decided to go ahead and head inside. She nodded towards her niece when Eliza turned from where she sat, the telephone against her ear. “Hold on.” Eliza covered the mouthpiece with her hand. “Hey.”

“Who's on the phone?” Kara asked.

“Mom, eh, Maggie.” Eliza turned her attention back to the call. “Sorry, anyway, I'm with her now and we're fine...”

She went to the kitchen area and pulled out the Twinkie box. While her niece was saying goodbye to her mother, Kara popped the last two of her pills. She seemed to going through them faster and faster lately. She idly noted that Eliza had hung up the phone.

“Good afternoon.”

“Afternoon.” Kara offered in response. 

“Where'd you end up going this morning?” Eliza asked softly.

“I took a walk.”

“What, to clear your head?” When she didn’t immediately answer, Eliza continued talking. “It’s catching up to you?” At Kara’s blank look, Eliza offered a sad smile. “Must be something finding out I exist. Having to then maybe, uh, talk about, ya know, things? All of it?”

Kara glanced over to her bedside table, but the clock was no longer there. Right. She’d crushed it last night.

“I'm late. I'll be back in a minute.” She turned to go right back out the door she’d just entered.

“Bye.” Eliza offered lamely. They were going to have to talk again… but not yet. Not when there were pills to be purchased.

SG * HND * SG * HND

She hated that everything had a pale greenish tint to it now. 

Why in Rao’s name had the United States Government had thought that lacing the very air that everyone had to breathe with aerosolized green Kryptonite would be a good idea was beyond her. It hadn’t worked the Luthor’s… why would the Government be any smarter? There was no way that Alex or anyone with any brains would have agreed to such a farfetched plan. Sure, Kara had taken out her cousin already… and Green-K was the primary defense against Kryptonians, but she’d already been subjected to the red stuff. Even the dumbest of the White House’s science guys should have realized that they’d have to cure the red radiation poisoning before any of the other colored radiations’ effects would work.

Lena had set the Government, maybe the entire world, up for failure - choosing to get back at Kara by infecting her once friend with the red. The former hero wondered if Lena had known that being funny under the effects of one gave a type of immunity to the rest? Maybe Alex was asking her that right now…

While there was nobody currently around that had a cure for the redness, Alex and Brainy had come up with some pills that were designed to negate much of the further and more homicidal tendencies that often came with being set free, as the red often tried to convince her of. It was that limited stash that her various suppliers were providing… a limited stash that was surely soon to vanish.

Maybe she should take a pill or two to what was left of STAR Labs to see if the formula could be duplicated… or, dare she dream it, perfected upon.

She shook off such thoughts as she neared the meet up with William. 

“Let's go.” A familiar voice suddenly spoke from up ahead. 

Kara slowed her approach and glanced around the corner of the building. Sighing, Kara watched as Thug Number One and Thug Number Two were pushing William into the trunk of his car. Thug Number Two then climbed into William’s car and drove off, with Thug Number One following in a very obvious D.E.O. sports utility vehicle. Alex had loved driving those.

Well… there went her pills.

Looking around, she noted that there was no one paying any mind to anything going on. Kara decided that while she wasn’t in the saving-people business any longer, she definitely still need those pills. The redness disagreed, but Kara overruled the argument.

Sigh.

Up. Up. And away…

SG * HND * SG * HND

Following the two cars had been easy. If they’d been any type of threat, Kara would have assumed it was a trap, but with all of her senses set to as ‘wide open’ as they could go, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for two thugs kidnaping a lone Government agent. She flew above the green mist, ignoring how it made her skin itch, as they drove to a lone warehouse down by the docks. Cliché much?

She softly landed by the side of the building as the two kidnappers opened the trunk and dragged William into the warehouse. Kara waited for a few minutes before moving over to William’s car. With her x-ray vision, she easily found the bag that contained her pills. She was about to simply force open the trunk and take her pills and leave, when William’s cries reached her ears.

They were asking questions… questions about her, mostly, but they were also torturing him. Kara sighed as she still considered just leaving. William had already said that she needed to find a new source for the pills… but something nagged at her. It was almost like Alex was whispering in her ear to do something. Throwing her hands in the air, Kara rolled her eyes and stomped into the warehouse. 

Saving people was not supposed to be on the agenda today.

“Talk to me.” Thug Number Two said menacingly.

Kara didn’t hear William answer, but the sounds of flesh striking flesh lent to the obvious mental picture that they were not beating the D.E.O. Agent up in the hopes of getting him to start talking. William was obviously going to eventually fold. He didn’t look like the type to withstand a true Governmental interrogation.

“We're here to help you, okay?” Thug Number One was now saying. Apparently, he was the good cop in this good cop slash bad cop scenario. “Okay?”

As she slowly approached, she could only hear William blubbering. Thug Number One sighed loudly. “I think maybe you went too far.”

“Huh?” Thug Number Two questioned stupidly. Obviously not the brains. “Is he okay?”

“Don't cry, buddy.” Thug Number One was now trying to console their kidnap victim. Kara almost laughed aloud.

Not really worried about stealth any longer, Kara made her way around the corner to where the three individuals currently were. Thug Number One and Thug Number Two were looming over William, currently shackled to a chair and looking like he’d been severely worked over. His leg looked really bad.

Thug Number Two turned as she drew closer. “Oh, wow, you.”

“Hey, guy.” Kara smiled darkly. “How about you turn around and get the fuck out of here, all right?” She thought maybe she’d give them a sporting chance to escape.

“Get out of here, bitch! Get out!” Thug Number One was brandishing a tire iron.

“I need the man you're killing.”

Thug Number Two tried for intimidating. “Oh, we're not kidding around.”

“Would you get this bitch gone?” Thug Number One pointed at her. His partner decided that was all the permission he needed as he popped open a switchblade knife. Apparently, their ass-kicking at her apartment had already fled their pathetic little minds. Too bad for them.

Kara allowed the knife to stab at her the blade immediately snapping off when it hit her skin… although her hoodie now had a knife hole in it. She really needed to think these thing through better. Pissed about her clothes, Kara jammed her thumb into the cocksucker’s eye.

He didn’t like that.

“Oh... shit, my eye!” Thug Number Two stumbled towards the hallway. Kara watched him try to leave, before he finally knelt to the floor and began vomiting. She wrinkled her nose at the sudden acrid scent that filled the room, when she felt something strike the back of her head. She turned to see the tire iron in Thug Number One’s hands was now bent. He’d tried to blindside her from behind!

“Oh, fuck, you bitch!”

Kara decided that she was done with this asshole, as well. She walk up to him and slapped him. The crack of her flesh meeting his was so satisfying, as he turned a full three-sixty… at least three teeth flying out of his mouth, before he slumped to the ground unconscious.

Seeing that is compatriot was currently huddled on the floor in a fetal position, Kara turned and considered William. He’d definitely had better days. 

“Where are your keys?”

“Oh, fuck, my leg.” William cried softly. “Just get me to a hospital, please.”

“Where are your car keys?” Kara repeated.

“I... I-I don't know. Kara, please. Please, Kara.”

Well, this wasn’t getting her anywhere. Didn’t her realize how badly she wanted her pills?

He was crying even harder now. Why? They weren’t going to be beating on him any longer. Not for a while, at least. “Please, Kara, just get me to a hospital.”

Kara went over to Thug Number One on the floor, still unmoving, and checked his pockets. No keys. Moving over to Thug Number Two, he whimpered when she pushed him over and ripped his jeans pockets open, pulling out a set of keys. She ignored the Hello Kitty keychain.

“Are these them?” She showed the keys to William.

“Um...” He mumbled.

“Are these your keys?!?” She demanded an answer.

“Yeah, yeah.” He finally confirmed. Finally.

Kara reached down and tore the chains with her bare hands. She then picked William up, careful to not get any of the blood all over his clothes or running from his leg on her clothes. The knife hole was enough to deal with. Blood would require dry cleaning… and that was too much trouble.

He needed a hospital… but hospitals had cameras and officers and paperwork. 

What to do?

SG * HND * SG * HND

Kara had been driving William’s car towards the National City Memorial Hospital for the past few minutes, trying to come up with a plan for dropping him off without having to get personally involved… more so than she currently was. William, blessedly, have finally passed out – most likely due to blood loss – after she’d set him down in his backseat. 

She’d considered the trunk, but she didn’t want his blood maybe getting all over her pills, though now that she thought about it, she could have put the pills in the front seat with her and left him in the trunk. Kara was stil running over various possibilities, when she spotted an ambulance parked on the side of the road. Apparently, it was a lunch break of some kind. Well, break’s over!

Kara quickly swerved behind the ambulance. She popped the car’s trunk before she got out and picked William up from his prone position in the back of the car. Lifting him like he weighed nothing, which to her, he really didn’t, the former blonde superhero quickly carried the agent to the back of the medical vehicle.

“Hey!” The female emergency medical technician cried as Kara laid William down on the gurney. “Okay, who are you?” Kara didn’t stick around to answer any questions and, instead, moved to William’s car’s trunk, retrieved her pills and then moved as quickly as humanly possible away from the scene.

As Kara turned the corner and out of sight, she heard the other EMT ask “What's up?” and then the EMT that briefly saw Kara respond, “Someone just dropped him off.”

William would be taken care of. 

SG * HND * SG * HND

Kara approached her third floor apartment door. Maybe Eliza would understand that sleep was on the agenda for the day. Just drink her unsweetened tea and eat some dry toast or something and nap. All day. Yeah, that was a great plan… she didn’t care that the redness wanted to go out and hurt some more people.

“Hey, where'd you go?” Eliza questioned the moment Kara opened her door. Wow. This was almost as bad as Alex when Kara had skipped out on Sister Night to sneak away with Lucy. Or Lena, later…

Was Lucy still alive? Would she even talk to her after what Kara had done to Lois?

“Nowhere.” Kara finally answered.

“You left the room and showed up two hours later.” Her niece accused. “You went somewhere.”

“I had to get medication.” Kara held up the bag in her hand. There hadn’t been as many pills inside as she had hoped. With William out of commission, she’d definitely needed to make a new contact. And fast.

“Oh... I won't ask, because I know most people don't like... to talk about their personal medicine stuff. Like, I used to have this tiny addiction to Adderall... and I know I wouldn't want to talk about it.” She continued to ramble. Alex had been right… rambling like that did get annoying after a while. “So, what do you want to do today?”

While Eliza continued to talk, Kara made her way across the small apartment and fell directly onto the mattress… once again ignoring how the bed protested such abuse. “I'm doing it.”

“So, are we gonna do anything today?”

“I'm still doing it.” Kara mumbled with her face in the pillow. She should probably get up and put her pills in the kitchen cabinet, but laying here and doing nothing was a very compelling argument.

“Ooh, do you want to get drunk and complain about Mom?” Her niece offered. Any other time, that might have worked.

“I don't drink, remember?”

“Oh... no, that's good. It's a good decision. No sugar, no alcohol, what about smoke? Do you smoke anything?”

“Nope.”

“Wow, Jesus Christ, you're boring now.” Eliza complained. “I mean, what do you do all day?”

“Nothing much.”

“Nothing's... good.” The young girl sounded as if even saying the words made her choke. Kara smiled into her pillow. 

“Sure.”

Kara counted into the silence… one. Two. Three…

“Is there a way to walk back to that bar...because I left my car there and...”

So… apparently Eliza wasn’t going to let her sleep. “What time is it?”

“Almost six, maybe.”

“Bingo!” Kara cried.

SG * HND * SG * HND

The look of horror on Eliza’s face as Kara led them up the stair to the carved, wooden doors of the Old Saint Joseph’s Cathedral was enough to chuckle aloud. Organized religion was apparently a non-starter for the Sawyer family. Kara idly skirted the melancholy feelings that her niece had never been introduced to the Jewish faith… Alex’s family’s beliefs.

“Not a fan of church?”

Her niece ducked her head, her cheeks pink. “Mama, Renee that is, she tried getting me into church for a while. Every Sunday she’d promise me whatever lunch I wanted if I went with her. It was… nice, I guess, but after she and Mom started not getting along, I kinda stopped going. It felt like betraying Mom.”

As they entered the building, Kara took a moment to appreciate the huge chamber. As always, there was a scattering of individuals… some couples, sat in various pews. Everyone needed a chance to pray and seek guidance from a higher power. 

“Are you religious?”

Kara nodded absently. “I’m the last to have walked the great Temples of Rao. To have basked in His morning radiance. To have tasted the blessed water and dusk.” She paused to reflect. “There are those here on Earth that have taken up the Teachings of Rao. And there are other planets throughout the universes that still worship – but I think it will one day be gone.”

She looked over at Alex’s daughter… so much looking like Maggie in that moment. “I like this building. It feels Holy, somehow. Like maybe Rao would approve. I enjoy the calmness it offers.”

“How often do you come here?” She finally asked.

Kara thought about it. She came to the church almost every day… the calmness she told Eliza about wasn’t exactly like the Temples of Rao she had grown up with, but Kara liked how the stained glass seemed to filter the green from the light. 

Bingo? Well, bingo was an easier answer. She led them both towards the door leading to where the game was played during the week. “At least three days a week.”

“Well, how many times do you win?” Kara ignored the obvious humor in her niece’s voice.

“Eh, maybe once a month.”

“Four.” Kara said to the lady behind the table handing out scorecards. She took two of the four she’d been given and handed them to Eliza. “Here... take this.”

“Twenty dollars, please?” The lady asked kindly. Kara handed over a rumpled twenty dollar bill.

Eliza kept looking around in disbelief. “And how much money do you get in that month?”

In the distance, Kara could hear the Priest talking. “First game is regular bingo or four corners... fifty dollars prize money. Fifty dollars.”

“Usually, maybe I win about a hundred.”

Eliza looked skeptical. “How much did this cost?” she asked, referring to the scorecards in her hands.

“Twenty. Ten bucks per scorecard.”

“That doesn't pay off, then.” Her niece argued. Kara smiled… a real smile.

“No, no, it doesn't.” She confirmed.

“Then why do you play bingo?”

“Because these people don't distract me.”

“What?”

“For something to do.” She answered softly. “I play for something to do. Keeps me occupied. Calm, ya know?” She waited until Eliza nodded in understanding... even without any knowledge about the red. Kara moved them both to a couple of available seats. “Caller's announcing.”

The Priest rattled the cage until a ball fell into his hand. “N-34.”

“Just a line anywhere?” Eliza confirmed.

Kara nodded. “And the four corners.”

“B-2.” The game continued. “And B-1, B-1... anybody got B-1.”

The younger woman was glancing all around the church’s bingo hall. The two of them were easily the youngest in the room… well, in appearance, at least, in regards to Kara. Actually, she was probably closer to the ages of everyone in here.

Eliza leaned over to whisper in Kara’s ear. “So, I've noticed that we only have two bingo cards... but all the other senior citizens have like ten.”

The Priest called out another number. “I-20.” Kara’s cards really sucked this go around. 

“I never play with more than two.” She answered. “I don't want to keep track of more than that.”

“Oh.”

“I-17.” Was called out. Finally, Kara got one. “Oh! O-64.”

Kara stamped Eliza’s cards. Both of them. “O-64.” She explained.

“Oh, ah, thanks.” Eliza’s smile warmed something inside of Kara. The red was not amused.

“N-41.”

SG * HND * SG * HND

“Well, that was something.”

The two of them were back at Noonan’s Diner. It shouldn’t really be a surprise. Kara followed a boring schedule that was designed to prevent any type of stimulation and, therefore, a reason for the redness to get out. The apartment. Noonan’s. The church. Pick up spot for pills. Four places. 

Kara picked up her hot tea. Man, she missed sugar. “It passes the time.”

“So does drug use.” Eliza snapped back before sipping at the straw in her milkshake. Strawberry this time.

“You don't even think when you're playing bingo.” She explained again. “Your mind's on autopilot.”

The younger girl laughed. “No, you're definitely a professional bingo player.”

Stephanie approached their booth, probably to check to see if they needed anything else. “Are you rea…” Eliza interrupted her. “Do you like bingo?”

The blonde-haired woman stopped and stared at Eliza before turning to arch an eyebrow at Kara. Kara offered no help whatsoever. Stephanie returned her gaze back to the other occupant of the booth. “The room full of seniors’ bingo?”

“Yeah.”

Their waitress laughed. When she realized that an answer was expected, she stopped. “I can't say I ever played.” She finally admitted.

“Well, would you consider it?” Eliza pressed.

Stephanie was definitely thrown. She continued to glance back and forth between the two females sitting in front of her. Kara wasn’t quite sure how the older-looking woman was going to respond… and by Stephanie’s look of absolute bewilderment, neither did she. Finally, she responded.

“Sure.”

Eliza clapped her hands. “You should come with us sometime?”

“You play bingo?” Now Stephanie was intrigued. It in the woman’s voice. She was looking directly at Kara now, and it all that Kara could do to not wink. What was wrong with her? “You don't look like the type.” Stephanie accused.

“I'm less than a hundred.” Eliza cracked up at that.

“Um, yeah, I'll go.” Stephanie grinned, her eyes lighting up. “I work tomorrow, but I'm off the day after.”

“Nice, well, we don't apparently ever do anything, so we're also open.” Eliza said. When the waitress looked at Kara again, Kara just shrugged.

“All right, um, are you ready to order?”

“Um, I'm gonna need a minute.” Eliza stated as she picked up her menu to finally start looking at it.

“Okay, I gotta work on this table and then I will be right back.” Stephanie filled her notepad closed and moved away from them. Kara scowled at the girl across from her.

“I was ready to order.”

Eliza just grinned. “There you go.”

What? “Where I go?”

“You got a date.”

No. No. No. No. Not a date. “It's bingo.” Kara argued.

“Yes, even bingo counts.” Eliza kept grinning. The evil little supervillain. “When's the last time you were with someone anyway?”

“How old are you?”

She frowned. “Nineteen.”

Kara nodded. “Nineteen is too young to be asking about my love life.”

“So, you have a love life?”

“Or lack of one.” She countered. “Got it?”

Her niece lost the grin. “Yeah.”

“Besides, assume much?” Kara pointed a finger at Eliza.

“Psh. You said you liked women.”

“Stephanie might not be my type. You might’ve made it awkward to eat here. You should mind your own business.”

Eliza rolled her eyes. “You'll be fine. No, she's nice... and you'll have fun.”

Kara sighed as she felt the need for her pills, but she needed to be careful about using them up too fast. Her supply was limited now. She clenched her fists, trying to ignore the red glow that started to show beneath her skin. Now was not the time.

All right, fuck.

She looked around the room, hoping for something to distract her with. It seemed like it was mostly regulars throughout the diner tonight. Well, mostly. There was the one thug looking guy sitting at the counter. Winn would have said Kara was looking at Thug Number Three. She considered investigating further, but a small voice interrupted her plan.

“You all right?” Eliza asked.

Kara focused her gaze back to her companion. She hadn’t even realized that she had maybe lost a bit of time there. Glancing down, the redness was a little brighter, following along the veins in her hands and moving up her arms. The spread was hidden beneath the hoodie she wore, but Kara’s x-ray vision easily followed their trail.

After a few deep breaths, the glow seemed to fade a bit. The pills made doing this so much easier. “Yeah.” She finally answered.

“You're kind of out there, aren't you?”

Kara smirked. “Probably.”

“Yeah, that's okay.” Eliza reached across the booth’s table and put her hands on top of Kara’s, ignoring the obvious redness that could easily be seen. “Me, too.”

She couldn’t really understand… but at that moment, Kara decided that Eliza was family. 

They sat that way for a bit. Eventually, Eliza pulled her hands away and leaned back in her seat. After a few moments of silence, Eliza started chewing at her lower lip. Here it comes. “Can I talk about Mom again for a sec?” After Kara nodded, she asked, “What happened between you two?”

“Between me and your Mom?” Kara looked for clarification. When Eliza gave the affirmative, Kara considered exactly how to say what she wanted to relay. 

“Alex. Your mother hurting Alex happened.” She admitted. “Do you know how long your mother and Alex were together?”

“I can't say I do.” She said before drinking a little more of her strawberry shake.

“A little over a year. Maybe. Just a few short of two actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you happy she married Mom?” Eliza asked. It was a fair question, considering how much Kara now loathed the very thought of Maggie Sawyer’s continued existence. 

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Before she ran, yes.” Kara sighed. “When she was a part of Alex’s life. And mine. Yes. I was happy that she married my sister. Maggie was supposed to be my sister forever, too.”

Stephanie was suddenly right there. That the completely mundane human had approached with Kara realizing it was testimony to how involved and focused she had been on Alex’s daughter. The redness was laughing at her. She watched as she placed another mug of unsweetened hot tea in front of her and poured a refill of cola in Eliza’s half empty glass.

At Kara’s look, Stephanie grinned. “Figured you’d both want refills. Are you guys ready?” 

“I am.” Eliza responded. “Are you?” She directed towards Kara.

Kara shot her a playful glare before drinking from her new cup of tea. “I've been ready.”

She was about to place her order when the late night cook stepped out from the back kitchen. “Stephanie!”

The waitress rolled her eyes, mouthing an apology, before turning towards the cook. “Yeah?”

“Phone.” He yelled across the diner.

“Ugh, yeah, I'll be right there.” Stephanie turned back to them. “Sorry, so did you guys play bingo today?”

“Sure did.” Eliza answered happily.

“Anybody win?”

Eliza gave her a solemn look. “Nobody wins in bingo.”

SG * HND * SG * HND

“I could go for being buzzed.” Eliza decided to suddenly share with the rest of the class. 

They were walking back to Kara’s apartment, having finished their dinner at Noonan’s. Kara tried to smile, but something seemed off just a bit. Something was nagging at her… maybe she should’ve done something, or gotten ready to do something. Kara couldn’t figure it out. She needed a Remembrall, although it hadn’t done Neville Longbottom any good, either.

“Okay.”

Eliza was dancing as they walked. “Can I borrow your car?”

“Yeah, you should ask that after the buzzed comment.” Kara answered wryly.

“I can?”

“I don't have a car.” Kara admitted… although William’s car might still be sitting where she’d left it by the ambulance, but she wasn’t going to offer Eliza her dealer’s vehicle. 

“Right, what do you need a car for when you only go three places?”

“And fly, though I don’t really do that anymore.”

“Right. Fly.”

“That's the idea. And besides, you said you had a car. Parked down at Darla’s.” Kara reminded her. 

“Probably stolen by now. It was a crappy car. Real piece of shit.” At Kara’s look, she further explained. “After so many accidents and run in’s with the cops, Mom took away the car she’d gotten me. I had to work to earn enough to get my own. Best I could afford was a junked up heap. Mom says it build character.”

They continued to banter back and forth, slowly sharing bits and pieces of their lives, as they eventually reached the apartment. Eliza bolted for the bathroom, citing a desperate need to pee, while Kara walked over to the window… that funny feeling getting worse and worse. It was almost like…

Damnit! She’d been poisoned. Green-K. No wonder the red was running overtime tonight. Kara considered her pills, but those wouldn’t help in this case. She needed to let the two K’s fight it out inside. 

While she was considering when she’d become so complacent that she let the now confirmed Thug Number Three apparently spike her food or drink at Noonan’s, Kara needed a plan. They were going to be coming for her, and keeping Eliza safe was now a high priority. Movement outside her window on the street below gave Kara the answer she needed. Three figures watching the apartment building. Kara moved towards the door, patting her pocket to confirm that she had her pills on her, just in case. 

“You all right?” Eliza asked as she exited the bathroom.

“Yeah.” Kara offered. “Yeah.”

“Where are you going?”

She offered a small smile. “Forgot something. Be back in a minute.”


End file.
